10 Best Jobs Requiring Two-Year Degrees

To continue school or not continue school? That is the question for many high school graduates.

Although college can improve your career opportunities and increase your lifetime earnings, it also takes four years (or more) of your life and a lot of money. Plus, few majors can guarantee a financial return that will offset the financial debt many students will accumulate during college.

Two-year degrees, of which an associate degree is the most common, provide training and education for a variety of fields in approximately half the time as a bachelor's degree. Plus, you can earn an associate degree from a local community college for a fraction of the cost of a four-year degree at a university. Also, for most areas of study, an associate degree puts you halfway toward a four-year degree should you decide to pursue later.

Perhaps more important to students wondering about their educational future, workers with associate degrees on average earn more money than their counterparts with high school diplomas. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over a 40-year period, high school graduates will earn a total of $1.2 million, while workers with associate degrees will earn $1.6 million.

Is it any surprise two-year degrees are becoming an increasingly attractive option for many people?

Based on salary, industry employment and projected job growth, here are 10 of the best jobs for workers with two-year degrees: